My Watermark is Fraser River, BC.

I look out my kitchen window and watch the tugs shifting logs from the far side of the Fraser River over to our side. The front lawn slopes down to meet a tangle of blackberry vines and assorted gnarly ground cover on the escarpment separating us from the river bank.

The river is like family, I know its moods, the happy sparkle as the sunlight warms its surface in the summer, the moodiness of Fall's shifting fog, the icy indifference of winter ice flows and the muddy confusion of spring thaw.

The river entertains and connects me to a world where fish jump, sea doos race and boaters speed by to their unknown destinations, all oblivious of me, the river watcher. And just as I am helpless to protect my adventurous daughter from the dangers of the world, I am equally ill-equipped to save the Fraser River. Can the mighty Fraser River survive our foolishness?

I am a believer in the power of humankind to protect its offspring, and so I am hopeful that we will all rise up and defend her.